I really enjoyed that! I just defeated the Ruined King and wanted to jot down some of my initial thoughts. Right off the bat, I am interested in how it would play with different weapons; I went in with the Spear and Erupting Flame, which made some fights rather easy (ranged damage!) but really hampered my ability to move away from creatures that tried to gang up on me. I didn't end up dying, but I got close a couple times. Definitely considering re-starting with a Scythe and Strider's Boots or something, just to see how it affects the vibe.
I had some questions about rules that I just made my best judgements for (I may have missed where you said things):
- If something has a range of 2 or 3, is that in a straight line only, or can it turn corners?
- When an enemy has an action that isn't move, block, or harm (for instance, summoning a skeleton), when does that take place?
- Related, do summoned enemies act immediately roll a die for their Action Set, or do they spend their first turn just standing there?
- If I kill a unique enemy (or the rune lord) and then die, does that kill still count?
- Is Harm dealt by Draining affected by bonuses from (say) the Sun Scorched ring or being in the same square? If so, does the healing increase as well?
Those were the areas that were unclear. But on the whole, I had a wonderful time; in particular, when I finally decided to go to Graven Keep and I realized that, because I had collected a bunch of Lore earlier, I got to skip two fights? That was delightful! That felt very much like I was being rewarded for my exploration. I am very much looking forward to seeing what larger and more complex realms look like. I really like having both Lore and specific items that can act as keys, effectively, for letting you access other items and areas; it feels like it opens up a lot of space to play in. On the Grim Coast it's easy to visit every area and do almost every thing, but in a larger place I could see areas that you could access with sufficient Lore, or with an item dropped by a hard boss, or by going along a path with several fights, all rewarding different approaches to gameplay.